Distributing and Collecting Laptops



SETTING THE STAGE (To be reviewed before the session begins.)

Session Overview
In this session, participants will develop effective procedures for the distribution and collection of laptops on a daily basis.

Focusing Questions
What are some ways that I can make sure all laptops are distributed, collected and stored properly?
How can I utilize responsible students to assist with the day-to-day distribution and collection of laptops?

Materials
The following materials are used in this session:

-Laptops
-Projector
-Laptop carts
-Cart keys

Resources
Cart Monitors


INSTRUCTION (Typically lasts about 20% of session.)

Framing the Session
How many times have laptops been distributed to you and upon startup, you realize that the battery is not charged? Are there days when an entire class is being held up because it is taking too long to distribute or collect the laptops?
If so, today we will discuss the rituals and routines that you can put into place to ease the process of distributing and collecting laptops.

Teaching
Every laptop cart should have assigned at least two responsible students whose job will be to monitor the distribution, collection, and connection of all laptops. These monitors will need to know where they can retrieve the cart keys from and where they should put them once the carts have been locked.

Distributing: Upon entering their homeroom, cart monitors should begin preparing the carts for distribution. The teacher must establish a routine for the appropriate time to begin the distribution (i.e. after the pledge, after attendence has been taken). Monitors can begin by calling up each student, disconnecting their laptop from the charger and handing it over to the student with two hands. If there is more than one cart, monitors can alternate calling out names. This is repeated until each student has his/her laptop. Once this is done, cart monitors will make sure that the remaining laptops are still charging and secured.
Collecting: Monitors should begin preparing the carts for the collection of laptops immediately upon walking into pm homeroom. Using the same process for distributing, each student will hand over his/her laptop to the monitor as their names are called. Cart monitors are to make sure that each laptop is stored, in the assigned compartment, and connected to the charger. A light will go on to indicate that the laptop has been properly connected.
If the light does not go on...
  • Check that the two pieces of the cord have not been disconnected.
  • Make sure that the cord is properly plugged into the outlet in the cart.
  • Check to make sure that the cart is properly plugged into the outlet on the wall.
  • Check power switch on the cart.
  • Make sure that the main outlet is functioning.

Once all laptops are secured, monitors will sign off on the "sign off sheet" that confirms all laptops, belonging to that cart, are collected and inside the cart.
Sign off sheet should be placed on the cart for easy access at the end of the day. It is the teacher's responsibility to make sure that this is being signed daily.
Note: Make sure that you are familiar with your school's policies in the event that a laptop is not returned.

Guided Practice
Now I will demonstrate how the process should work once all routines are established and monitors are comfortable with their responsibilities. In this demonstration, you will act as the students as I distribute and collect your computers.
Now it's your turn to try and develop routines that will best fit your classroom environment. Think about the processes and determine how they can help facilitate the distribution and collection of laptops.


WORK TIME (Typically lasts about 60–70% of session.)

Getting Started
Now that you have given it some thought, take the next 20 minutes to come up with a plan that will work best for your classroom and your students. Be sure to think about how your will select your cart monitors and train them to realize the significant responsibility that they will have in ensuring that all laptops are accounted for, secured and fully charged for distribution.When the time is up, we will come together to share what ideas you have come up with.

Participant Activity
Participants will...
Step 1 - Recall your classroom set up and the class you will be working with.
Step 2 - Select potential candidates that will best perform as cart monitors.
Step 3 - Based on the school's regular morning routines, decide at what point you want distribution to begin.
Step 4 - Determine what routines you will implement that are most suitable for your environment.
Step 5 - Have in place set procedures in the event of your absence.

Facilitator Conferring
Circulate around the room and confer with participants. Try to make suggestions that can help develop appropriate plans for their classroom. You may suggest creating a pros and cons list that will highlight the benefits or possible setbacks of their initial ideas.Take note of particularly good examples of work that can be presented during the Share.
During the conference be sure to present your participants with possible scenarios that may interrupt their process (i.e. lost keys, uncooperative students, can't plug in laptop, etc.). Ask participants to come up with different solutions that will help reduce the disruption.

SHARE (Typically lasts about 10–20% of session.)

Share
Ask selected participants to share how they have refined the procedures to best work in their classroom.
Ask them how will they handle unexpected events that may disrupt their process?


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Author: Brenda Perskin
Email: Bperskin@schools.nyc.gov
School/Employer: IS93
Title: Mathematics Teacher/iSquad Facilitator



TEMPLATE DESCRIPTION

Each session contains the following components and can be conducted in 45–60 minutes:

Session Overview
This is a concise summary of the session, and how it fits into the training series as a whole.

Focusing Questions
These are the specific questions that guide the session. The purpose of the session is to address these questions.

Materials
This is a list of all materials that the facilitator must make sure are present at the training site, including technology resources.

Resources
All handouts can be found linked from the Resources section of the participant agenda. Participants will be able to access these materials online during the session, but the facilitator should review them ahead of time, and any instructional support charts should be posted in the room before the session begins.

Framing the Session
The facilitator explains to the participants what will be covered in this session, how it fits into the training series as a whole, and how it may be incorporated into their reflective practice.

Teaching
This is a short period of facilitator-led instruction designed to prepare the participants for their work time. The facilitator might demonstrate a specific use of technology in an authentic curricular context, selected participants might be invited to share relevant experiences, or the group as a whole might contribute to a shared brainstorming list. The facilitator should be careful to avoid giving a lengthy lecture or straying too far from the focusing questions.

Guided Practice
Sometimes it is helpful for the facilitator to walk the participants through a process step by step. This gives the participants the hands-on experience of work time before losing the scaffolding of facilitator-led instruction.

Getting Started
The facilitator gives instructions to the participants for their work time, and lets them know what they will be expected to share at the end of the session.

Participant Activity
Participants are given time to practice the specific process they have seen demonstrated. They may be working independently, with a partner, or in small groups.

Facilitator Conferring
As participants work, the facilitator moves around the room holding short conferences to help guide the work and make it more productive. The facilitator should be at eye level with participants during each conference. These conversations need not be especially private; the facilitator may invite someone sitting nearby to listen in. If common needs among the group emerge, they can either be addressed immediately or during the sharing time.

Share
Participants gather at the end of the session to demonstrate what they have done, discuss experiences they have had, and reflect on what they have learned. This is an opportunity to return to the focusing questions that began the session, and discuss what has been accomplished in the interval.

Acknowledgements
This section acknowledges those who contributed to the creation of this session.